Cramauchenia fossil map
Where fossils of Cramauchenia have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 15 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 15 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 29–17.5 million years ago (Rupelian to Burdigalian) |
| Periods | Paleogene, Neogene |
| Family | Macraucheniidae |
| Named by | Ameghino 1902 |
| Fossil records | 10 occurrences at 4 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Argentina |
| Rock formations | Sarmiento, Cerro Bandera |
About Cramauchenia
Cramauchenia is an extinct genus of litoptern South American ungulate. Cramauchenia was named by Florentino Ameghino. The name has no literal translation. Instead, it is an anagram of the name of a related genus Macrauchenia. This genus was initially discovered in the Sarmiento Formation in the Chubut Province, in Argentina, and later it was found in the Chichinales Formation in the Río Negro Province and the Cerro Bandera Formation in Neuquén, also in Argentina, in sediments assigned to the SALMA Colhuehuapian (in the Early Miocene), as well as the Agua de la Piedra Formation in Mendoza, in sediments dated to the Deseadan (during the Late Oligocene). In 1981 Soria made C. insolita a junior synonym of C. normalis. A specimen of C. normalis was described in 2010 from Cabeza Blanca (Chubut, Argentina) in the Sarmiento Formation, in sediments assigned to the Deseadan SALMA (Upper Oligocene).
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Cramauchenia (revision 1354404659), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q3753628.
